Cristina A. Carvalho

Partner

Cristina is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and served as Firmwide Managing Partner from 2016-2023. Her practice focuses on global intellectual property portfolio management, licensing and technology for leading US and foreign companies. 

Cristina Carvalho Portrait

Cristina oversees an international practice that encompasses commercial transactions, intellectual property, licensing, and technology for leading US and foreign companies. She is admitted to practice law in the United States and Brazil.

Cristina currently serves on ArentFox Schiff’s Executive Committee and previously served as the Firmwide Managing Partner from 2016 - 2023 and led the firm’s highly regarded Intellectual Property group. 

Client Work

Among her clients are global manufacturing companies in the food, drinks, pet care, technology, and security segments. She also advises major Brazilian companies in technology, commercial, licensing, and intellectual property-related matters in the United States and abroad. Those clients include one of the largest oil, gas, and energy companies in the world, one of the largest publishing companies in Latin America, and several large clothing, shoe, and fashion accessories companies. She has also managed the intellectual property portfolios of celebrities and sports figures, including soccer legend Pelé and late Formula 1 pilot Ayrton Senna.

Widely recognized as a leading attorney in the food and beverage industries, Cristina has extensive experience in global intellectual property portfolio management and domestic and foreign trademark prosecution and disputes. Cristina also supervises large teams of partners, associates, and paralegals in managing international intellectual property portfolios for major clients. She regularly counsels clients concerning the selection and adoption of trademarks, how to build and enhance rights in brands, and international enforcement strategies.

She has assisted clients in multimillion-dollar transactions involving the acquisition and divestiture of intellectual property portfolios. She is skilled in drafting and reviewing domestic and foreign license agreements involving trademarks and copyrights. Cristina also advises clients in trademark infringement, unfair competition, and copyright litigation throughout the United States, domain name dispute resolution proceedings, and opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Previous Work

Before joining ArentFox Schiff in April 1997, Cristina practiced intellectual property law in New York City, where she managed domestic and foreign trademark portfolios for leading financial services companies, toy and sportswear manufacturers, and book publishers. She was also involved in trademark and copyright litigation, as well as in trademark proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board for significant alcohol, spirits, and beer companies.

While attending law school in Brazil, Cristina clerked for the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (INPI), where she drafted decisions and opinions in trademark registration appeals and opposition and cancellation proceedings. Following graduation from law school in 1985, she practiced intellectual property law for seven years in Brazil, where she was extensively involved in all aspects of technology transactions, licensing, and intellectual property protection and enforcement for North American, South American, and European clients.

Professional Activities

Cristina currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce and ABRACE - Brazilian Association of Culture and Education. She also holds memberships in the International Trademark Association (INTA), the Brazilian Association for Intellectual Property (ABPI), and MARQUES, among others.

Publications, Presentations & Recognitions

  • Honored as one of Washington, DC’s ‘Most Powerful Women’ by Washingtonian magazine in 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023
  • Annually recognized as one of Latin America’s Top 100 Female Lawyers by Latinvex
  • Recognized as a leading trademark attorney by World Trademark Review since 2016. WTR notes, “Carvalho’s nuanced international expertise is a primary weapon in her diverse arsenal; she is especially talented when it comes to prosecution and transactional mandates that cross over into Latin America”
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Life Beyond the Law

Cristina is a native Portuguese speaker and is fluent in Spanish.